Having been brought up with classics of 4X galactic conquest (The 4 Xs stand
for eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, and eXterminate) like Master Of Orion, Birth Of
The Federation and Imperium Galactica, I might be a bit spoiled and gotten my
hopes up too much over what everyone was saying for Sins. It's a good game,
there's no doubt of that, but it feels less like a strategic conquest, more
like a big, strung out skirmish, with heavy emphasis on eXterminate and not the
other 4 X's. The options for building up planets under your control are very
limited. Basically all there is is “Upgrade Population”, which increases
credit revenue “Upgrade max number of Civilian/Military Buildings” which
does just that, and “Explore Planet”, the latter of which sometimes reveals
artefacts which give your faction a bonus.

Diplomacy also seems to be pretty broken, and shallow. Your opponents will
give you “Missions”, which are basically just cold-call demands for
money/resources or killing X number of Y opponent's Z's, which, if completed
will make them like you more. Blowing up their ships doesn't seem to miff them
very much, nor does putting outposts/fleets too close to their borders, (like in
a game such as Birth Of The Federation), and I find it disappointing that you
can't actually make any demands of THEM.

Hopefully if they choose to make an expansion, or sequel for the game,
they'll add in the depth they missed out on, but I won't hold my breath. Master
Of Orion 2 and Birth Of The Federation have held their age well and they still
run on XP so I'll keep my lust for galactic conquest sated with them
for now.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

"Insomnia? Play this!"

2 stars"

Review by Ryan
on 20th September, 2008

Purchased on Mighty Ape

Boring! Actually, boring and not particularly challenging either. For the
most part, victory comes down to a case of “I have more ships than you, so
I'm going to smear your sorry carcass all over the galaxy!” Or variations on
this theme, such as “I've spent the entire game paying the pirates to harass
your shipping and raid your worlds, and while they've been doing that I've been
building a fleet bigger than the Borg Collective!”

The different races aren't terribly different. The humans employ vessels that
are rather dull and industrial-looking but generally good all-rounders. The
psychic mutants use ships fitted with a lot of fancy beam weaponry but their
overall durability is somewhat lacking. And the last kid in the galactic
sandpit, the ugly extraterrestrials, field a variety of very tough ships, but
you have to take out a second mortgage on all your planets in order to build
anything resembling a battle-ready fleet.

The playing field, or galaxy in this instance, which you can make as big or
as small as you like, generally dictates the length of the game. Larger galaxies
will necessitate locking yourself in your room for the next six months while
wearing adult undergarments. Diplomacy is a case of “Do this for me and
I might be your friend for a bit; at least until you start refusing my
ludicrous demands or failing in your assigned tasks, after which I’ll show up
at your nearest planet with a fleet of heavily-armed battleships.”

No single-player campaign means no story-based missions. Each race has a
vaguely intriguing backstory, but other than that the entire game is one giant
skirmish. Skirmishing is fun… for a while. Then it just gets mind-numbingly
dull. A bit like this game.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

"Amusing"

3 stars"

Review by Sam
on 27th July, 2008

Purchased on Mighty Ape

It is a Massivly impressive game, the graphics are awsome, the gameplay
becomes tedious however after a few hours of gameplay, as there are no missions.
Enemy AI also becomes tiresome as they flee in the face of a larger fleet
causing you to have to chase them through systems untill you can corner or hit
them with a pincer manouver.

Description

Sins of a Solar Empire represents the birth of the RT4X genre, seamlessly blending spectacular tactical combat with grand-scale space strategy. Players must conquer worlds, engage in diplomacy and trade with other civilizations, and use the resources at their disposal to enhance their economy, develop new technology and increase military power. They must then test their mettle on a 3D tactical battlefield, where their ships will fight it out in stunning visual glory.

Take control of one of three space-faring races as you work to establish your dominance of the galaxy in Sins of a Solar Empire. Through a combination of diplomacy, economic savvy, the spread of culture and of course sheer brute force and victory on the battlefield you will establish order over your corner of the galaxy.

Customize and Improve Powerful Units: As battle hardened capital ships advance in level, their core offensive and defensive systems are improved and their unique abilities are unlocked. Try out the devastating Raze Planet, the tactical Clairvoyance and the hull ravaging Phase Missile Swarm.

Take on Multiple Roles: Transition between the roles of emperor and fleet commander as you zoom-in seamlessly to direct a crucial battle while managing the rest of your empire effortlessly on the same screen.

Sins of a Solar Empire is powered by the Iron Engine - a brand new, advanced graphics engine from developer Ironclad Games that was built specifically for Sins. Using the latest in DirectX 9 technology, Sins is able to deliver a massive, detailed galaxy for the player to explore, expand into, exploit and ultimately conquer in real-time, all while being able to perform well on a range of systems and hardware. Here are a few of the major features of the Iron Engine that you'll see in Sins of a Solar Empire:

Can support thousands of planets and solar systems, the only limitation is the player's system.

Massive, detailed textures on ships, planets and orbital structures.

Hundreds of ships on-screen at once, engaged in epic battle.

Up to 10,000 particles (explosions, missiles, laser blasts etc.) on the screen at once in full-out combat.

Seamless zoom-in and zoom-out from looking at a one-man space fighter, to viewing your entire empire spanning billions of kilometers of space.

The Iron Engine is designed to perform well on systems ranging from middle-of-the-road hardware, to the biggest, most powerful machines on the market today. Effects, number of ships, planets etc. are only limited by how powerful your machine is. There are no hard-coded limits.

Under the Hood...

Beyond what you'll specifically be seeing in Sins of a Solar Empire, the Iron Engine packs a number of advanced features that take advantage of the most powerful graphics cards on the market. These features ensure that the engine, and games built with it, will easily scale with future hardware.